Porthole!

[newhallone]

I actually found a porthole in the north woods. It was at an auction in Aurora wisconson. A border town with Iron Mountain/Kingsford Michigan. I had to work that day so I called in a proxy bid of 150, and for kicks I gave some low bids on a 10-s-669 and a Philco 41-296. The proxy bid worked like it should (unlike the last time when my winning bid just happened to be my proxy...grrr) I got the tv for 100, the Zenith radio for 20 and the Philco for 15.

The cab needs refinishing but is pretty nice. After a little cooking and cleaning it tests pretty good. It is a GE tube. I tested with a beltron. It read between 9 and 10. Closer to 10. And it held for a good 10 secs maybe more depending on who counts. The rise time is around 3 maybe 3.5. Then again depends whos counting. Now the short light I never under stand. the light is steady without a crt attached. With it attached it never goes out. Or really goes on and off. But it does flicker a little once in awhile. What do you think?

The Zenith radio is in very nice shape. The faux finish has a few chips on each side but it can be patched in. The Philco is clean but needs the loop and a speaker, and a complete refinish.

So overall I think I did good. Well worth the 2 hour drive round trip.

Now I have to get rid of some stuff. Things are looking cluttered around my house.

[John Folsom]

Great score! The Beltron is my favorite CRT tester. However, the shorts light is pretty useless. If you DO have a short , the light is supposed to go out. You would not have good emission, and there are no provisions for doing anything about it, so it seem a redundant indicator. I just ignore it.

[newhallone]

Thanks for the clarification. I feel better now. The older sets are harder to find up here because we did not get tv till 1956. I suppose with a good antenna they may have been able to get greenbay. So most of the sets I find are mid 50's on up. I am thinking this set must have migrated from a bigger city.

[Eric H]

Good catch!
That's one of my favorite Zenith Portholes, I like the rounded corners on the cabinet.

[Sandy G]

Said it before, & I'll say it again, we lost a LOT when TVs became big, ugly, grey-black el cheapo plastic boxes w/no "soul" whatsoever....

[7"estatdef]

Nice Set !
Terry

[bandersen]

Sweet set I love that rounded veneer on the cabinet.

[newhallone]

Thanks! I got real lucky. This is one of the best looking portholes and to top it off it has a good crt.

[ohohyodafarted]

Nice score! I have one just like it and paid $140 for it just south of the Wisconsin state line.

I am very familiar with the area where you got it. My grandparents lived in Norway Mi where my mom was born. We have a cottage about 1 hour west of there in Vilas county just south of Wakefield Mi.

That set will produce a VERY good picture if you restore it. I have another similar 12" Full Door porthole in my living room and it has one of the best pictures of any set in my collection.

Great Score! Enjoy it.

[newhallone]

On the chassis the number reads 23624z1. On the paper lable on the cab it says it's chassis number 2350RZ1. On the chassis it also has a lable that mentions you can hook up a Phonevision Unit S-15570. What is that? Anyone have schematics and tech info on this to share?

[damen]

Nice one... I hope one like that comes my way one day.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by newhallone

On the chassis it also has a lable that mentions you can hook up a Phonevision Unit S-15570. What is that? Anyone have schematics and tech info on this to share?

Nice catch!

Phonevision was an early pay-tv scheme:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonevision

jr

[newhallone]

ah, yes I remember reading that but did not realize that it actually hooked up to the tv via a special connection.

[sean]

That is the same model that I have in my living room. I have a web page that shows the restoration I did on mine:

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2.../porthole2.htm

There is also a copy of the schematic on the page. I have also scanned the factory service manual on similar 1950 chassis. Send me an email or PM with your email address and I'll see if I can send you this file. It is pretty large, I think something around 20MB.

[newhallone]

That is a nice page you made. And thank you for the offer. Both will help tremendously in my restoration.